Improvements in mixing and blending apparatus for mixing powdered materials in fluids have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,696 to McCrory et al, directed to improvements in motor-driven axial-impeller type mixers for many different types of products, and teaching the addition of mixing baffle means in mixing containers so as to induce turbulence and thus break up laminar fluid flow and thereby provide enhanced mixing efficiency.
The present invention addresses an alternative apparatus and method for mixing and blending materials such as powdered soft serve ice cream and yogurt products, and the like.
A well known manual mixing device comprises a handle attached to a whip device formed from multiple loops of spring wire, utilized for general mixing purposes, typically in mixing and blending food materials such as eggs and batter in preparation for cooking. In the principal mode of utilizing the whip device, predetermined amounts of various ingredients are placed into an open bowl, and then, while holding the bowl steady, the whip device is manually agitated in generally circular motions through the ingredients until they are sufficiently blended.
This method has generally sufficed for domestic purposes; however in commercial food-handling environments, there are a number of inherent disadvantages:
Special skill and care are required to mix adequately in reasonable time: effort to accelerate the mixing by more vigorous activity tend to cause unacceptable spillage.
Mixing efficiency dictates that the bowl should be shaped with a large open rim, and the bottom needs to be rounded to avoid corners inaccessible to the rounded end of the wire whip: bowls of this shape are wasteful of storage and refrigeration space.
Also, sanitation is of concern on several counts: due to the large area of food stuffs exposed by the open shape of the bowl, extraneous matter such as dust particles or bacteria suspended in the atmosphere may settle or be drawn into the mixture during the mixing process; the open shape of the bowl makes it difficult to cover and seal; and the wire whip device, which requires frequent cleaning when used in this manner with an open bowl, is inherently difficult to keep clean.
The fast food industry has generally used 3-5 gallon buckets for mixing. These are flat bottomed, not rounded, and have been used successfully without mixing problems. The main sanitation concern the industry has had is the employees misusing these large buckets for jobs other than mixing the product, e.g., inappropriate use of the bucket for washing windows for floors.
During storage or refrigeration, some separation of the mixed ingredients is likely to occur, thus it may be desired to remix the materials from time to time or at least prior to final dispensing. The bowl then needs to be uncovered and unsealed on each remixing occasion and the wire whip requires repeated cleaning.
It is common practice to mix/blend various mixtures of fluids and/or solid ingredients by shaking them in a closed container, either manually or with a shaking machine. In manual mixing, as commonly practiced in the preparation of powdered soft serve ice cream and yogurt products, this basic shaking technique is not always fully effective as it may be difficult and time-consuming to achieve the degree of total contact between powdered phase ingredients and the liquid necessary for a totally blended product. Viscal fluids may resist total mixture by tending to flow mainly in laminar patterns when mixed in ordinary containers lacking baffles to induce turbulence.
The mixing and blending device and techniques of this invention has overcome these and other disadvantages of known shaker-type mixing devices and methods by providing a wire whip securely attached to a screw-on container cover so as to dispose the whip centrally within a container when the cover is threaded onto the container.
In the practice of this invention, the container is charged with fluid and other ingredients and the cover securely closed, and the container is shaken in a manner to force the ingredients past the wire loops of the whip which acts as a baffle, inducing the needed turbulence to break up laminar flow thus accelerate mixing and blending of the ingredients. When the product has been mixed, it may then be stored or refrigerated without removing the cover, keeping the whip inside and thus eliminating the need for cleaning and separate storage of the whip. Then at a later time when the mixture is about to be dispensed, it is simple and convenient to perform an additional shaking at that time to correct any settling that may have taken place, and thus ensure adequate mixing. Once the final product has been mixed it is not necessary to keep the whip in the product. If separation occur during storage the product can be remixed by simply shaking it in the same container with a plain lid.
After use, the cover/whip assembly may be easily cleaned along with the container: the shaking technique may be employed to advantage as part of the cleaning process.
It was an object of this invention to provide in a shaker-type mixer and blender having a enclosed container, the improvement comprising baffle means disposed centrally within the container, for mixing powdered substances in fluids and for mixing other food stuffs.
It was a further object of this invention to provide an improved internally-baffled manual mixer utilizing a conventional plastic jar container to economically and efficiently mix various materials and to facilitate storage and refrigeration.
A further object of this invention was to provide an improved mixing shaker device combining a known plastic jar having a screw-on cover and a wire whip firmly attached to the cover so as to dispose the wire whip centrally within the jar when the cover is threadedly attached, such that the whip is enabled to function as a baffle to enhance the mixing action.
These and other objects of the invention were satisfied by the novel mixer and blender improvements and method of operation of this invention as described herein.